Ector Co. TX - Obits from the Odessa American Online 31 Dec 1998 Submitted by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp cbodessa@classicnet.net Thanks to the Odessa American Online http://www.oaoa.com/ ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OA Online Obituaries. December 31, 1998 Permian Basin Obituaries _________________________________________________________________ Harvey R. Holland Sr. ODESSA -- Harvey R. Holland Sr., 57, of Odessa, died Dec. 30, 1998, at his residence after a lengthy illness. He was born Jan. 24, 1941, in Levelland. He married Linda Nymeyer Nov. 28, 1969, in Odessa. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 2, 1999, at Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors Chapel with the Rev. Morgan Bush officiating. Interment will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens. The family will receive visitors from 2 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, 1999, at Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors. Arrangements by Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors. Mr. Holland moved to Odessa from Levelland as a small child. He graduated from Odessa High School in 1960 and was a member of West Odessa First Baptist Church. He was also a member of National Rifle Association, Texas State Rifle Association and Moose Lodge. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran. Mr. Holland was employed for 16 years as an electronic technician for Western Electric Company and retired in 1996 from UTPB after 15 years as a lab coordinator. He is survived by his wife, Linda Nymeyer Holland of Odessa; son and his wife, Harvey R. Holland Jr. and Christina of Odessa; daughters, Vicki Denton and husband, Richard, of Midland, Melinda Holland of Odessa; father, Paul Holland of Odessa; sister, Paula Faulk and her son, Carl Wayne Elliott, of Eastland; grandchildren, Richard Denton II, James (Jeimy) Bostick, Christopher Denton and Jonathon Denton. If desired, memorials may be made to West Odessa First Baptist Church, 11300 W. University, Odessa 79764. _________________________________________________________________ Cleave Lamar Swafford KERMIT -- Cleave Lamar Swafford, age 83, of Wink died Tuesday, Dec. 29, 1998, in Kermit at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Jerry Purcell. He was born Jan. 22, 1915, in Wilbarger County to Chester and Susie Swafford. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II. He worked for Gulf Oil Corporation retiring in 1985 after 40 years. He worked in the Kermit area all that time. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Wink. He served a six-year term as a Wink city councilman. He was a 60-year-member of the Masonic Lodge with membership in the now-demised Wink Lodge No. 1302, Kermit Lodge No. 1258, and the Kermit Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star No. 895. He was also a member of the Scottish Rite, York Rite, and the El Maida Shrine in El Paso. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Mary Jane Swafford of Kermit; two daughters, Julie Purcell of Kermit and Sue Adams of Wink; two brothers, Lamoine Swafford of Kermit and Jack Swafford of Albuquerque, N.M.; two sisters, Lorene Kelly of Odessa and Benita Nichols of Austin; five grandchildren: Cory, Coby and Frank Purcell of Midland, John Adams of New York City and Jennifer Adams of Wink; and many nieces and nephews. The funeral was held Thursday, Dec. 31, 1998, at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Wink with the Rev. Bobby Braswell and the Rev. Henry Freund of Kermit officiating. Burial was in Kermit Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were made by Cooper Funeral Chapel in Kermit. Pallbearers were Cory Purcell, Coby Purcell, Jerry Purcell, Max Swafford, Doug Swafford and James Smith. The family requests that memorials be made to the American Cancer Society. _________________________________________________________________ Surfronia Aaron Rogers ODESSA -- Surfronia Aaron Rogers, 76, a homemaker, died Saturday, Dec. 26, 1998, at her Odessa residence. Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 1, 1999, at Texas & Clements Church of Christ with Bro. Billie Lemons officiating followed by a graveside service at Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday at Martinez Funeral Home. She was born Feb. 28, 1922, in Arcola, Miss., and was a 37-year resident of Odessa. She was a member of the Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her father, Granderville Moore; mother, Gracie Watkins; husband, Harry Rogers; and a son. Surfronia loved to fish and work in her yard where she grew the most beautiful flowers. Survivors include her sons, Willie Rogers, Tommy Rogers and D.L. Rogers, all of Chicago, Ernest Lee Rogers, O'Neill Rogers and Curtis Rogers, all of Odessa; daughters, Earnestine James Bradford of Odessa and Shirley Jones of Maben, Miss.; sisters, Susie Gipson of Champagne, Ill., Mozielle Roberson of Los Angeles; 24 grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Funeral arrangements are by Martinez Funeral Home. _________________________________________________________________ Sylvia Belew Roach Barber FORT WORTH -- Services for Sylvia Belew Roach Barber, 89, of Fort Worth will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, 1998, at Mount Olivet Chapel. A graveside service will be at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, 1998, at Mitchell Cemetery in Iredell. Mrs. Barber died Tuesday, Dec. 29, 1998, at Fort Worth Special Care Center. Mrs. Barber was born Nov. 21, 1909, in Cooperton, Okla., to Florance Jones Belew and William Lewis Belew, the third of nine children. She attended schools in Denton County. She moved with her family to Seminole in Gaines County in 1940 where she met and married County Judge Abner Judson Roach in 1944. The couple moved to Bosque County in 1946 and to Iredell in 1952 where they stock-farmed until Judson retired. Sylvia was active in community affairs and the First Baptist Church of Iredell for many years. She moved to Fort Worth in 1980 following the death of her only child, Abner Judson Roach Jr., in March 1980 and of her husband, A.J. Roach Sr., in September of 1980. She was a member of Springdale Baptist Church in Fort Worth. On Jan. 15, 1983, she married James Wilbur Barber, who was a high school classmate in Denton County in the 1920s. Mr. Barber died in 1983. Sylvia was preceded in death by five brothers, Avis Belew of Denton, Mark and Dennis Belew of Fort Worth, Clifton Belew of Jasper and Gilbert Belew of Baton Rouge, La. Survivors include her brothers, Lewis Belew and Ralph Belew, both of Fort Worth; sister, Gladys Sharbutt of Odessa; grandsons, Carey Paul Roach and Blane Judson Roach, both of Hico. She is also survived by her niece and long-time caregiver Helen Belew Vendrick and her husband, Martin Vendrick, of Arlington; five nephews, nine nieces, 15 great-nieces, 17 great-nephews, six great-great-nieces, 11 great-great-nephews and three great-great-great-nephews. Funeral arrangements are by Mount Olivet Funeral Home. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1998 Odessa American. All rights reserved.